Professor’s Chester talk to detail Gibson Guitar’s female workers

Quinniapiac law professor to present ‘Kalamazoo Gals’ research

Published 2:59 pm, Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Quinnipiac University law professor and author John Thomas, shown here in Nicaragua, will explain Gibson Guitar’s female workforce at a talk Friday in Chester.

Quinnipiac University law professor and author John Thomas, shown here in Nicaragua, will explain Gibson Guitar’s female workforce at a talk Friday in Chester.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

Professor’s Chester talk to detail Gibson Guitar’s female workers

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CHESTER >> Quinnipiac University law professor, author and guitar aficionado John Thomas’ research into female workers during WWII at a Michigan guitar factory is the subject of a multimedia presention this week.

Thomas stumbled upon a 1940s photo of 70 female workers in front of the Gibson Guitar factory in Kalamazoo, Mich., and became determined to find them and uncover their stories, according to a release.

He was also intent on learning why Gibson’s advertising denied the factory was making guitars during the war, despite the fact that their female workers produced 25,000 guitars from 1940 to 1945, a statement details.

Thomas’ interviews with 12 of these women — and how he and colleagues at Quinnipiac’s medical school proved the superior quality of their work as their men fought in the “Good War” — are detailed in his book, “Kalamazoo Gals: A Story of Extraordinary Women and Gibson’s Banner Guitars of WWII.”

The book’s website says Foster tasked himself with “illuminating the elusive history of a legendary group of WWII-era Gibson guitars know in the trade as ‘Banners’ because of the decal affixed to their headstocks.”

Now among the finest acoustic guitars ever made, nearly 10,000 were built when no such Gibson instruments were made, Thomas says the company claims, “because the company had shifted to churning out war goods,” according to kalamazoogals.com.

In a free and open-to-the-public multimedia presentation, Thomas will tell the story of Gibson Guitar’s “Kalamazoo Gals” Friday from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Chester Village West, 317 Main St.

Space for the presentation is limited; call 860-526-6800 or email chestervillagewest@lcsnet.com to reserve seats.